True Adventures Vol 1 3
Adversaries: * Other Characters: * Perkins, mine manager * Williams, butler * Louise, maid * Milasik, bartender * Mine workers ** O'Neil ** Branik ** Larkin Locations: * Items: * Vehicles: * | StoryTitle2 = ...I Took a Dive! | Writer2_1 = Uncredited | Penciler2_1 = Joe Maneely | Inker2_1 = Uncredited | Colourist2_1 = Uncredited | Letterer2_1 = Uncredited | Editor2_1 = Uncredited | Synopsis2 = Aging boxer Al Bailey and his wife Gracie are near broke, as Al is unable to secure fights due to his age and declining performance. Hoping to make enough money to buy a dress for Gracie's birthday, Al finds quick cash by agreeing to "take a dive", or throw a fight, for Charlie, one of his old fight promoters. While Al finds the idea of throwing a fight demeaning, he convinces himself to go through with the plan for Gracie's sake. The night of the fight, Al tries one last time to convince Charlie to let him pull a win in the ring, but Charlie warns Al that a number of "businessmen" have money riding on the fixed fight, and that Al deviating from the script would surely result in Al taking a bullet to the head. Al puts on a good show and takes his fall in the third round as planned. Rushing home, feeling disgusted with himself, Al finds Gracie at home in tears. Inquiring about her condition, Gracie reveals that she took all of the advanced payment money Al received for the fight and bet it on him to win. Laughing at the irony, Al explains to Gracie about the fight being fixed, and they decided to move to California to take a job at Al's brother's fruit farm. | Appearing2 = Featured Characters: * Al Bailey Supporting Characters: * Gracie Bailey, Al's wife * Charlie, fight promoter * Al's opponent Adversaries: * Other Characters: * Lou, fight spectator * Whitey Downs, Al's former manager Locations: * Items: * Vehicles: * | StoryTitle3 = Killer At Large! | Writer3_1 = Uncredited | Penciler3_1 = John Buscema | Penciler3_2 = Joe Maneely | Inker3_1 = Uncredited | Colourist3_1 = Uncredited | Letterer3_1 = Uncredited | Editor3_1 = Uncredited | Synopsis3 = Chicago Police Inspector Ellsworth Stanton is called out to investigate the murder scene of well-known citizen Steve Wiczowski. Wiczowski was found by his superintendent in the kitchen, a bullet in his forehead and the sink overflowing onto the floor. A childhood friend of Stanton's, Stanton is heartbroken, but puts his feelings aside and starts the investigation by informing Wiczowski's widow, Stanton's high school crush Sarah, of her husband's passing. As the investigation unfolds, Stanton and his police chief Sam Brady come up with three suspects with motive: Sarah, Steve's wife (who Wiczowski is convinced is innocent); Mike Luzow, a local bartender that Steve owed a large tab to; and Agnes Albern, a local con artist and lady of the night that drank with Steve the night of his murder. After intense interrogation of Luzow and Albern leads no where, Stanton corners Sarah in an office and emphatically asks her to marry him. Sarah turns him down and and tells Stanton that she will always love Steve, alive or not. At that moment, Chief Brady walks in and announces that Inspector Stanton is in fact the killer. Reminding the pair of the running sink, Brady informs them that the investigators at the scene found that the drain had been clogged by a foreign object, which Brady reveals is a piece of Stanton's badge. He theorizes that Stanton, in a drunken haze, confronted Wiczowski in his apartment and shot him in an attempt to make Sarah his own. Stanton then confesses to the whole thing, causing Sarah to break down. It is revealed that Stanton is re-telling the story to a reporter in a jail cell. As he finishes his story, a priest comes to the cell door to escort Stanton down the hall to meet his fate in the electric chair. | Appearing3 = Featured Characters: * Inspector Ellsworth Stanton Supporting Characters: * Chief Sam Brady Suspects: * Sarah Cummings Wiczowski, Steve's wife * Mike Luzow, a bartender * Agnes Albern, a con artist Other Characters: * Steve Wiczowski * Alex Moroff, building superintendent * Joe, a police officer Locations: * Chigaco ** Wiczowski apartment, Main & Houston Street Items: * Vehicles: * | StoryTitle4 = The Coward! | Writer4_1 = Uncredited | Penciler4_1 = Mike Sekowsky | Inker4_1 = Uncredited | Colourist4_1 = Uncredited | Letterer4_1 = Uncredited | Editor4_1 = Uncredited | Synopsis4 = In the Old West town of Brimstone, Sam Lawson and his Wife Nancy arrive by train to start anew. Sam is snickered at by some of the locals, as he sits on his porch whittling statues and carries his wife's packages around for her, while his wife works as a teacher, earning the money for the house. After weeks of verbal insults, one of the locals, Hank Kilgore, calls Sam a coward for refusing to stand up for himself, which finally pushes Sam too far. Hank and Sam begin a fist fight, where Hank precedes to pummel Sam, who refuses to swing back. When Kilgore stops to catch his breath, Sam starts swinging, and beats Hank to a pulp. As Kilgore writhes on the ground, Lucy runs to Sam, and demands to know why the townsmen would allow Sam to fight. When the locals reply that it was a fair fight, Lucy informs them that Sam is in fact blind, having lost his site while on duty as an U.S. Marshal, causing the townsmen to apologize for branding Sam a coward without getting to know him. | Appearing4 = Featured Characters: * Sam Lawson * Nancy Lawson Supporting Characters: * Adversaries: * Hank Kilgore Other Characters: * Nevada Locations: * Brimstone Items: * Vehicles: * | StoryTitle5 = The Day I Saw the Ghost Plane! | Writer5_1 = Uncredited | Penciler5_1 = Bob Powell | Inker5_1 = Uncredited | Colourist5_1 = Uncredited | Letterer5_1 = Uncredited | Editor5_1 = Uncredited | Synopsis5 = After crash landing in the forests of India, Mickey Thorne manages to stumble back to the hanger of the Burma Far East Air Freight Company, shaken and bruised. His fellow pilots inquire as to what happened, when Mickey tells them that his plane was shot out of the sky by a ghost plane. When his fellow pilots refuse to believe him, Mickey presents a piece of the wreckage bearing bullet holes from a .50 caliber machine gun. Mickey then sits down and tells them a story that he believes explains the events that just happened. He recounts his time flying P-47 escort planes during World War II with a young co-pilot named Erich Werner, a German national that fled the country as a young boy. Before their last escort before their tour of duty ends, Erich confides in Mickey that he has recently learned that his brother, Otto, who stayed in Germany, is currently a top-ranking pilot in the Luftwaffe. Erich is terrified that he will run into Otto in battle, but Mickey convinces him that it's nonsense. During the mission, the squadron is attacked by German planes, and in the chaos of battle, Erich's plane is damaged. Attempting to land, a German pilot comes over the American frequency and tells Erich that landing will not save him, and then blows Erich's plane out of the sky. Wrought with grief, Mickey shoots the German down, and goes on with his mission. After the war, Mickey is introduced to the freight company by a war buddy named Johnny. Taking the work, he is paired with a grouchy pilot named Stahl, who is convinced that a ghost ship is haunting him during his flights. Flying together for a few weeks, Mickey finds Stahl's wallet and learns that his real name is in fact Captain Otto Werner. Mickey learns that Stahl was a former Luftwaffe pilot, and, digging deeper, that he was Erich's brother. Stahl admits to shooting Erich out of the sky for being a traitor to the Fatherland, which enrages Mickey. On the brink of a fist fight in the cockpit, they are interrupted when the ghost ship that haunts Stahl appears in the sky in front of them. Erich's voice comes over the radio and informs Mickey that he should jump, as he plans to kill Stahl today. Parachuting out of the plane, Mickey watches as the ghost ship blows the freight plane out of the sky. Returning to the wreck, he finds Otto a charred skeleton, and takes a piece of the plane with him to show the other pilots. The story finished, the rest of the pilots are still skeptical of Mickey's tale, but none of them can offer a better explanation for the crashed plane, of the bullet-riddled tail fin. | Appearing5 = Featured Characters: * Mickey Thorne Supporting Characters: * Otto Stahl/Hauptmann Otto Werner * Erich Werner Adversaries: * Luftwaffe Other Characters: * Johnny Papp * Freight Company pilots ** Pete McNeil ** Jean Dulleaux ** Vinsetti ** Smithers ** Smirnoff Locations: * India ** Burma Far East Air Freight Company Items: * Vehicles: * | Notes = | Trivia = *Contains an add for Man Comics #3 | Recommended = | Links = }}